Cliffs Natural Resources to see another executive leave

Another leader at Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. will be leaving the company before the year is through.The Cleveland-based producer of iron ore and metallurgical coal said Donald J. Gallagher, executive vice president and president, global commercial, will retire on Dec. 31. He will join a growing list of executives who either have left the company in the last five months or will be leaving the company shortly.Cliffs announced in mid-July that its president and CEO, Joseph Carrabba, would be retiring by Dec. 31, and that Laurie Brlas, its executive vice president and president of global operations, was leaving the company, effective immediately.The previous month, Cliffs announced that Dana Byrne, its vice president of government and public affairs and a 34-year veteran of the company, would retire July 1. Word of Mr. Byrne's planned retirement came two weeks after Cliffs announced that it was suspending environmental assessment activities for its $3.3 billion chromite project in Canada due to what it said were “delays related to the environment assessment process, land surface rights, and negotiations with the province of Ontario.”Just last week, Cliffs announced that Mr. Carrabba will retire Nov. 15 and that its board had named Gary B. Halverson, formerly interim chief operating officer of Barrick Gold Corp., to the post of president and chief operating officer, effective Nov. 18. Cliffs also said last week that James Kirsch, chairman of the board, had been elected executive chairman, effective Nov. 18, and will lead the Office of the Chairman to help with the transition in the coming months. Mr. Gallagher has been with the company since 1981. He started his career as an ore sales representative and received a variety of promotions in that area over the years. In 2003, he was named the company's senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer and was selected to be the chairman of Cliffs' pension committee, a position he still holds today.In 2006, the company was restructured into business segments, and Mr. Gallagher was promoted to president of North American Iron Ore, the company's largest segment. In 2007, after Cliffs acquired underground metallurgical coal mines in West Virginia and Alabama, Mr. Gallagher took on expanded oversight of the coal business. He was named president of the North American business unit and, in 2011, was named to his current position of executive vice president and president, global commercial. “Don is an outstanding and accomplished leader who has led the organization through some of the most challenging times in the industry and has been instrumental in Cliffs' growth and profitability over many years,” Mr. Kirsch said in the release.“We are sincerely grateful to Don for his dedication and commitment to Cliffs over the past 32 years — he personifies the resiliency of Cliffs,” Mr. Kirsch added. “We are appreciative of Don's ongoing assistance to make sure our customers' interests are taken care during this transitional period. We wish him well during his retirement.”

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